Fire & Rice To Sign First Two Franchise Deals At National Trade Show

Friday, August 28, 2015

Founder and owner Chef Paul Schmidgall is proud to announce that his company, Fire & Rice, is growing nationally. The company will be signing their first two franchise deals, covering three territories, at the National Events Marketing Franchise Show in Atlanta on September 19 and 20.

Fire & Rice is a fun alternative to the typical catered affair that features delicious freshly prepared paella, the national dish of Spain. Due to Fire & Rice's success, Schmidgall wishes to share his expertise, experience and even his gourmet recipes to help others start their own business.

Schmidgall founded Fire & Rice in 2011 and has had great response to his unique business model. He received his inspiration for the specialized catering company nearly two decades after he was introduced to the dish of paella in Majorca, Spain. While traveling through Spain, Schmidgall was out for dinner one Sunday night when he met an elderly woman who prepared the delicious paella.

"She was so passionate about the ingredients and how she created the paella -- it was absolutely captivating! I wanted to duplicate her passion and her delicious dish and share it with everyone, but it took me a few years to turn that idea into a business," said Schmidgall.

Just as many generations before, Schmidgall took an interest in the dish and then trained with the elderly Spanish lady to perfect his skills with her recipe. After she shared her secrets with him, Schmidgall eventually went on to study at Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode Island where he obtained a degree in Culinary Arts and Marketing. He later furthered his education by receiving an MBA in International Business.

Fire & Rice of Naples has been honored several times: they were awarded the 2012 Peoples' Choice Award at the Naples Craft Beer Fest and also named Co-Champion in Food Pairing by the brewers who participated in the event. Fire & Rice will be receiving a National Achievement award from the ‘Paella for the World' organization in October.

Schmidgall's business has now grown into a thriving and successful gourmet catering company with a unique entertainment factor. The company and concept have gained national media coverage and his story was recently picked up by USA Today online. With success comes opportunity and the opportunity now at-hand is to offer franchises to others who want to own their own business.

"I'm excited to have agreements for our first two first franchises," said Schmidgall. "We will make each of them official with the check presentation, signing of the agreements and franchise photos in September at the Atlanta tradeshow," says Schmidgall. "We'll sign one franchise on Saturday and the other on Sunday. We are already attracting others and will be generating more business at the show." The first franchise to sign will be Fire & Rice of West Tennessee for one territory, and the second will be Fire & Rice of Fort Myers. The Fort Myers franchisee will also be contracting the option to purchase Fire & Rice of Port Huron, Michigan.

"Fire & Rice has created an exceptional and duplicable catering strategy," says Fire & Rice's first employee Alan Sloan. "Paul showed me how to cater events and parties and I just fell in love with it, so much so that I am now in the process of signing the official franchise paperwork in Atlanta to open Fire & Rice of Fort Myers!" A Fire & Rice franchise will allow owners to create their own unique catering successes with Fire & Rice's tried and tested accomplishments, business model and marketing plan. Franchises can be part of farmers markets, festivals, and even private parties for any special occasions.

In addition to the twist on a typical food franchise, Fire & Rice offers a lower cost of agreement entry compared to larger food franchises. A typical Fire & Rice franchise can be set up and on the road for under $70,000. Schmidgall's goal is to offer the franchise opportunity to other interested parties at the Atlanta tradeshow in September.

For more information about franchise opportunities, please contact Paul Schmidgall, Fire & Rice LLC, at 239-269-8857 or email [email protected] or visit www.FireandRice.us

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